About The NACS Coca‑Cola Retailing Research Council

Chairman and CEO, Coen Markets

Charlie McIlvaine is the Chairman & CEO of Coen Oil Company, LLC, a diversified holding company that includes Coen Markets (~60 store retail convenience chain in the Tri-State region of Pittsburgh, PA), and Thomaston Land, a real estate investment platform. Charlie is also Managing Partner of Thomaston Capital, LLC, a private investment firm funded by its principals that invests in growth or later stage companies primarily in the consumer/retail sector.

Charlie was previously a member of Avista Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in New York with $4 billion under management, where he focused on investments in the consumer sector. Prior to working in private equity, Charlie was Co-Global Group Head and Managing Director of the Global Consumer Group for Deutsche Bank. In this capacity, he had responsibility for managing a group of 50+ professionals across three global investment banking offices which generated revenues over $300 million. DB’s Global Consumer Group advised on mergers & acquisitions and raised debt and equity capital for clients in the food/beverage, household products/personal care, retail/restaurant and business services sectors. Previous to DB, Charlie was a senior member and Managing Director of J.P. Morgan’s Global Consumer Group in investment banking where he spent most of his investment banking career. While at J.P. Morgan, he executed financings and mergers and acquisitions for a wide range of consumer companies.

Charlie is a past board member of Duke Medicine Board of Visitors, Duke Nursing Board of Advisors (past Chairman and currently Chairman-Emeritus), Duke Gardens Board of Visitors. Charlie is currently a member of the NACS Board of Directors, Vice Chair of Research & Technology Committee, and a member of the Executive Committee. Charlie is also an active member of several corporate boards.

Charlie holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, attended New College of Oxford University, and earned a BA in economics from Duke University.

EVP, North America Operations and Commercial Optimization, Circle K

Louise Warner was named Executive Vice President, North American Operations and Global Commercial Optimization in September 2024 after serving as Senior Vice President, Global Fuels since joining Alimentation Couche-Tard in January 2021.

Prior to Couche-Tard, Ms. Warner was a member of the Caltex Australia (now Ampol) Executive team from 2016 to 2020 and held the positions of Chief Commercial Officer, and previously Executive General Manager of Fuels & Infrastructure. In her 21- year tenure with Caltex Australia, she held a variety of operational, project and commercial roles, and was responsible for Australian and international operations in Singapore, New Zealand and the Philippines.

Ms. Warner holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

AVP, Brand Strategies, Sheetz

Ryan Sheetz is the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Supply Chain for Sheetz. He also serves as the Executive Partner for ELEVATE, the Black Employee Resource Group (ERG) at Sheetz.

During his 23 years of service with the company, Ryan has spent time working in the Operations, Sales, Sheetz Distribution Services, Sheetz Brothers Kitchen, IT, and HR departments at Sheetz. Prior to his current role, he served as the VP of Brand and Marketing.

Ryan is a graduate of Penn State University, where he achieved his B.S. and M.B.A. from the Smeal College of Business. His work experience outside of the family business includes Marketing and Brand roles with the Galliker Dairy and Hershey Foods companies. Ryan is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Sheetz Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence, and Sheetz Family Charities, as well as the Penn State Altoona Advisory Board.

CEO, FEMSA Retail, OXXO

Jose Antonio Fernández Garza-Lagüera became CEO of the Proximity and Health Division in November 2023, where he leads a broad range of sectors and markets in Latin America and Europe. Under his direction, FEMSA has expanded its presence in various retail formats, including convenience stores, discount stores, pharmacies, and gas stations. The company operates iconic brands such as OXXO, OXXO Gas, Caffenio, Farmacias YZA, Cruz Verde, Tiendas Bara, Gorditas Doña Tota, avec, kkiosk, Fybeca, and Sanasana, among others.

In 2022, Jose Antonio led FEMSA's Digital Division, where he developed three main business lines: Spin, the fastest-growing digital wallet in Mexico; Loyalty, the largest loyalty platform in Latin America; and B2B Finance, an ecosystem for micro, small, and medium-sized business (MiSMBs) in Mexico.

His career at FEMSA began in 2018 as Head of Strategic Planning for OXXO Mexico. Prior to joining FEMSA Comercio, he led the Central America Division of Coca‑Cola FEMSA from 2015 to 2018. Previously, he served as General Director of FEMSA's Plastics Division and Sales and Operations Manager at HEINEKEN Mexico in Mexico City.

Before his tenure at HEINEKEN, he co-founded and directed Vestige Capital, a Mexico-based investment fund dedicated to acquiring and managing small and medium-sized companies. At Vestige, he co-led the acquisition of BOMI Group Mexico, a logistics service provider for the health care industry.

Jose Antonio is deeply committed to education and entrepreneurship, having taught entrepreneurship courses and serving as founding president of the Entrepreneurship Institute Council at Tecnológico de Monterrey. He holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from Tecnológico de Monterrey and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Chief Merchandising Officer, Casey’s

Tom is the Chief Merchandising Officer of Casey’s and he has been in the role since the end of October 2019. As Chief Merchant he is responsible for leading the development and implementation of the company’s overall merchandising and prepared foods strategy.

Brennan joined Casey’s from CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc., the parent of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, where he was Chief Operating Officer responsible for the operations and support of over 3,000 restaurants across the United States. Prior to CKE, he spent 11 years at 7-Eleven in a variety of leadership roles in merchandising, category management, store development and operations. Before 7-Eleven, he worked in the financial planning and analysis group at Target Corporation and he also served six years active duty as an Armor Officer in the U.S. Army.

He holds a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

President, QuikTrip

Kevin grew up in Mississippi and attended Mississippi Valley State University.

He has worked for QuikTrip Corporation for 34 years. He started as a Night Assistant Manager in Atlanta. He was the first person in the Atlanta Division to be promoted through all the positions he has held.

Kevin relocated to Tulsa in 2015 after serving as Division Manager for 12 years.

He has previously held the roles of Director of Operations, VP of Operations, and COO/VP of Operations & Human Resources before being promoted to President in 2023.

Chief Product and Brand Officer, Wawa

Mary-Rose is the Vice President – Chief Product Marketing Officer for Wawa, Inc. a chain of more than 1,000 convenience stores located in five Mid-Atlantic States, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina and Washington, DC. Wawa is a family and associate-owned, privately held company with more than 47,000 Wawa associates providing convenient and friendly experiences for over 2 million customers every day. Wawa ranks: 20th on Forbes’ annual ranking of America’s Largest Private Companies, top 7 Convenience Retailer in the country, among the top ten largest Employee Stock Ownership Plans in the country in terms of participation and is one of Forbes Best Brands for Social Impact in 2023.

The company began in the early 1800’s in New Jersey with an iron foundry and a cotton and textile mill and migrated to Pennsylvania with the opening of a dairy plant in 1902. Wawa’s original dairy was built on land located in a rural section of Pennsylvania called “Wawa” which was named from local Native Americans in honor of their favored game – the Canada goose. As home delivery of dairy declined and supermarkets became more abundant in the early 1960’s, the concept to open Wawa convenience stores became a reality with the first store opening in Folsom, PA on April 16, 1964.

Currently, Mary-Rose is responsible for the strategy and execution of the Wawa foodservice brand, which is nearly a $2 billion business, including Wawa’s core brands – coffee and fresh beverages, Sizzli breakfast sandwiches, and hoagies. Mary-Rose leads the fresh food and beverage categories. This team works with internal and external partners to oversee the fresh food and beverage offer, creating brand engagement, determining advertising and promotional strategies, and helping to continuously strengthen the brand.

Before joining Wawa, Mary-Rose worked at both Arthur Anderson and Ernst & Young in retail consulting. Mary-Rose graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. Mary-Rose is committed to supporting some of Wawa’s most meaningful community events including Wawa Welcome America, Operation Brotherly Love, USO Care Package Assembly, and many other efforts big and small, that make an impact on the communities the Company serves.

Mary-Rose serves on the Board of the Wawa Associates in Need Fund.
She resides in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with her husband, Buzz, and their daughters, Lily and Poppy.